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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Technology Report. |
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The world's largest solar thermal plant |
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is set to begin producing power |
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in the United States by the end of the year. |
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Wind and energy from the sun |
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are generally considered clean, |
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unlike energy from coal-burning power stations. |
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However, environmentalists now worry |
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that to much solar power development |
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could harm the local environment. |
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A California company -- BrightSource Energy |
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is building a huge solar power plant |
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in the Mojave desert, |
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about 60 kilometers southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. |
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The plant is known as the Ivanpah |
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Solar Electric Generating System. |
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Joe Desmond works for the company. |
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"This is actually one of the highest concentrations |
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of sunlight in the world, |
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out here in Ivanpah," explained Desmond. |
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BrightSource Energy will deploy 170,000 specially designed mirrors |
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to direct solar energy towards boilers on top of three power towers. |
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The steam produced in the boilers |
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will drive turbines to make electricity. |
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Joe Desmond says the steam can reach temperatures |
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of more than 260 degrees Celsius. |
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"We can store the sun's thermal energy |
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in the form of molten salt, |
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so we can produce electricity even when the sun goes down. |
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There is a lot of interest in concentrating solar power |
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around the globe in environments where you have lots of sun, |
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such as China, South Africa, the Middle East, |
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North Africa," explained Desmond. |
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Environmentalists generally support the idea of solar power, |
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however, many are concerned about the effect of power plants |
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on sensitive environment. |
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Lisa Belenky is a lawyer with the Center for Biological Diversity, |
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a private group. |
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She says environmentalists are specifically worried |
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about the effect of the Ivanpah Solar Project |
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on the sensitive plant and animal life in that part of Mojave desert. |
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"Even though the desert seems big, |
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when you start cutting it up, |
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it can really affect how the species and the animals |
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and the plants are able to survive in the long run," said Lisa Belenky. |
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BrightSource Energy has already spent more than $50 million |
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to move endangered desert tortoises away from the power plant, |
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but Lisa Belenky says this is not the answer. |
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"We should be reusing areas that have already been disturbed, |
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old mining sites, for example... |
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either on homes, on businesses, parking lots," said Belenky. |
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There have also been reports of birds dying |
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at the Ivanpah Plant and others like it. |
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Some birds die after colliding with solar equipment |
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which the animals mistake for water. |
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Other birds were killed or suffered burns |
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after flying through the intense heat at the solar thermal plant. |
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As solar projects increase, environmentalists and developers |
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are considering what to do to reduce bird death. |
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And that is the Technology Report from VOA Learning English. |
